ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #027

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#027– Fad Gadget – ‘Back To Nature’ (Mute Records ’79)

Hello friends,

well, the ‘E’s’ are done, so let’s start with the artists beginning with an ‘F’, Fad Gadget, or Frank Tovey to his mother and perhaps to you as well, being the first one.

To be fair, I only know a handful of his songs, but the one I chose for today, I certainly do know by heart! I was 11 when it was released, too young to know anything. But ‘Back To Nature’ was still constantly played in all of the New Wave/Gothic clubs I went to in town when I was old enough to do so, you simply could not avoid this tune – even if you wanted to.

Now, this might either demonstrate how outdated the clubs were I went to in the mid-Eighties, then again it might as well show what a killer tune this ‘oldie’ was … and perhaps still is. Anyway, people literally stormed the dance floor whenever the DJ put it on, so it must have had its fans even it was already six or seven years old at the time. Me, well, by and large you only saw me on the dance floor when I was crossing it on me way to the bar. But still I enjoyed listening to ‘Back To Nature’ mightily, each and every bloody time. And I still do so today, it’s one of those records that has stood the test of time, if you ask me.

Fad Gadget was the first artist to sign to Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Miller had just released the first single on Mute under his ‘The Normal’ – moniker, ‘T.V.O.D.’, but perhaps better known for its B-Side, ‘Warm Leatherette’. Spoiler alert: no, this song, as mighty as it may be, will not feature in a later post, because I stupidly sold this single years ago!

(JC interjects…….if anyone wants to read the story of T.V.O.D/Warm Leatherette, click here to be taken to a previous post from back in November 2019.

Anyway: because of this record, Miller, contrary to Gadget, knew what he was doing in the studio, so basically he turned out to be the “mastermind” behind ‘Back To Nature’ as far as recording/producing was concerned. And the sales results for this second single on Mute show that both folks must have done a pretty good job – it was a great success for the label.

As I said, a song I never get tired of. I hope the same is true for you. But perhaps, who knows, there are even one or two people who never heard of it, and, again, who knows, it might even meet with those two people’s approval. And if this happens, well, to quote Tom Cruise: “mission accomplished!”.

mp3:  Fad Gadget – Back To Nature

Fad Gadget died in 2002, aged only 45. As mentioned above, I didn’t really follow his output in his later years, perhaps I should have done this. Then again, with this record alone, at least to me, he was a groundbreaker for synth music and most surely an inspiration for many many bands to come.

Enjoy,

Dirk